Twitter's new music service is finally open to the public

Twitter's much-heralded music app, Twitter Music, is finally open
to the public.

The new service, which is only available on iPhone and the web
at the moment, mines the wealth of data from tweets to find and
showcase trending tracks and emerging artists.

Users can stream music through the app by signing into Spotify
and Rdio, and a #NowPlaying dashboard shows you the music that the
people you follow have tweeted about. It also connects to iTunes
but that will only play track previews. There are suggestions that
service will also allow hook ups with YouTube, Soundcloud and
Vevo.

The service was previously made live for beta-testing by celebrities. Twitter say that the app will be
rolled out to the public throughout 18 April, so users may have to
spend some time clicking refresh.

The move is no doubt an attempt to cement Twitter's popularity
as a platform for connecting with artists. Eight of the 10 most
followed Twitter accounts belong to musicians. (Ok, seven + Justin
Bieber.)

In a blogpost announcing the launch, Twitter said that the service
would only be available in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland,
Australia and New Zealand, but that it would be rolled out to more
countries -- and to Android users -- "over time".